Australian Mortgage and Loan Information

Yes, It is time for a comprehensive analysis of your current home loan?

It seems all the major lenders are tinkering with their home loan offerings. They are playing their cards pretty close to their chest, but you can be assured of one thing, old loan holders will be treated like lepers’ were in the olden days once the new offering is about.

You will be getting plenty of encouragement from the tellers at the bank to speak to their home loan professional.

The “new stuff” will no doubt be irresistible, but will include new clause’s enabling the lender to boot you out of your home if you don’t comply with their current whim or fancy.

Please be prepared. Use a mortgage broker if you can. Heck, use two and play them off against each other.

Rates are on the way up, be ready.

Are Loan Break Costs Deductible?

Are you thinking of selling your rental property to take advantage of the first home owner property bubble? Do you have a fixed rate loan?

If you are going to break a fixed interest loan agreement to sell a rental property, you should be able to claim the penalty interest as an outright tax deduction. This is because the penalty interest is a discharge cost and specifically allowed by the tax office. You must have received rental income in the year of your claim or it will not be an immediate deduction. The penalty interest and fees will be added to the cost base of your property if you have not been getting income. You won’t miss out on a tax break either way. Ask your accountant for clarification.

Check with your lender before you consider selling your rental property. You need to know exactly what fees and penalties you are up for! Also, check your current loan statements for errors.

Invest in the US property market while it is down, Americans are a tenacious breed, property will bounce back. Click here to find out how to get your shot at some big profits

Can we expect another cut in official interest rates in June 2009? Or has the Australian economy hit its bottom. These vext questions will only be answered in the fullness of time. But, Australia’s major lenders have raised their fixed mortgage rates by nearly half a percent. Do they know something we don’t. Probably. So is now a good time to fix you rate?

My thoughts are no! If you are in a panic about rates, I still say no. If you simply must fix, fix a portion of your loan, not the lot. How will you feel if rates go down to 2% after you have fixed at 6%. There are lot of folk who have fixed at 8%, they now find it very expensive to refinance. I say remain flexible if you can.

My gut feel is that a lot of borrowers are enquiring about fixed loans and the Banks and other major lenders are simply taking advantage of the demand. They all have plenty of cheap money from over seas and from the Government deposit guarantee. First home owners may consider a fixed loan, as it will provide certainty for at least a five year period and give them a chance to accumulate some equity.

Before you take a fixed rate loan, be warned that there is devil in the fine print and a hefty cost if you decide to refinance your loan before the fixed term expires.

Although the First Home Owners Grant Boost has only been extended for a short time, the original grant will continuing to give first home buyers a leg up past December 31 2009. The boost was a top up of the original FHOG of $7000 for both new builds and established houses. So any extension represents a bonus.

Don’t forget you can still save for your first home with the Governments “First Home Buyers Deposit Saver Scheme.” No need to rush, house price’s may well come down 20% post 31 December 2009, as the depression deepens! So keep saving.

In the mean time speak to a quality Mortgage Broker about how much you need to save.

Good news for you first home buyers busily saving for your first home. You now have an extra six months to take advantage of the Rudd governments $7000 or $14000 boost.

It seems all the original criteria remain the same, with just the date for expiry extended to 30th September 2009, in its current form and to 31st december 2009 with slightly reduced benefits. So get your skates on, free up your cash. Sell that expensive car and take the bus, cut out excessive spending on entertainment and clothes, give up smoking and take a part-time job. Above all save, save, save.

Unfortunately property prices have gone up because of the boost, but there are still some reasonably priced properties available and interest rates are at historical lows.

Do you have a granny who is ready for the nursing home? Why not buy her house? You could even let her stay as boarder after you take over. You will save on agents fees at least. She may be happy that her home is staying in the family.

There are heaps of things you can do to find a reasonably priced home. Please be innovative, think outside the square. However, make sure you abide by the rules of the boost. I hear the government will be checking up on people.

If you dont have a contact with a Bank or Mortgage Broker, I am now using Easy-Loans for my customers. All the work is done either by email, instant messenger or telephone, hassel free.

The signs are right for a further drop in the variable home loan rates.

My information is that one of the big four Australian Banks may be about to break ranks and cut their variable home loan interest rate dramatically. With rates already at historical lows, a further drop will provide a welcome lift to first home buyers, those with big borrowings, the economy and the many small business’s in need of a cash flow boost with cheaper credit. Check out what a rate drop will do for you.

I have been trying to embrace the teachings in The Secret dvd my wife gave me for my birthday. When I heard about the possibility of a one of the big four Banks breaking ranks over not passing on the RBA cuts I was chuffed, as one of the things I have been visualising, is a better rate on my home loan. I recently purchased a work book to record the things I want to attract. maybe it is working! I guess I will find out when the news breaks.



The Secret Vision Book is a wonderfully illustrated, easy to use e-Book that will change your thought process from unsuccessful to successful and happy using The Secret DVD philosophy. Did you know that 97% of people who watch the secret DVD or read the books from The Absolute Secret range will fail to apply the principles? Why? Because, they don’t know what to do next. The Secret Vision Book is a working system in which you can record all the things you want to attract into your life.

It is time to take a closer look at your home loan.

Yes it is time to put your loan through its paces and compare it to other home loan contenders. You might find that you can save your self a heap of cash by simply taking out a new mortgage to replace your current mortgage. In any case it is worth having a mortgage check up. I suggest you get two opinions. Choose a reputable mortgage broker and your current Bank as your mortgage doctors. The mortgage broker should give you a fairly unbiased opinion and your Bank should want to keep your business, so it would be in their best interest to give you incentive to stay with them. In either case, it will be wise to ask for their recommendations in writing. Their recommendations should also be in short summary or table form to allow you to make a informed comparison.

Some of the important items to compare are:

Interest rate?
Administration Fees?
Can loan be increased without total refinance?
Can I fix the interest rate on a portion of my loan up to 5 years?
Is there a 100% Interest offset account available for your loan?
Is there a repayment pause facility available?
How is interest calculated?
When is interest debited to your loan?
Can I make extra payments?
Can I redraw some of my loan, and if so what are the conditions?
Have I any Lenders Mortgage Insurance?
Can I change the term of my loan?
What Banking packages are available for me, and how will they help me?

You should make your own list. Be as thorough or as concise as you see fit. Stick to your guns and get a better deal.

A Reputable Mortgage Broker

A drop in Australian house and property values is imminent, it is not an if but a when the bubble will burst.

Four years ago the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) released a report revealing that: “AUSTRALIA had by far the most overvalued houses in the Western world, with prices 52 per cent higher than justified by rental values.” The report went on the say: “Australia was one of four countries where house prices were most out of line with fundamentals and that a correction of these inflated prices could generate an economic downturn, affecting growth, employment, government budgets and bank lending.”

So now in 2009 four years later we are in the middle of the biggest financial meltdown in the history of the world and our house prices have increased? I know Australia is a great place to live, but it just does not add up. Successive governments have subsidised the property bubble to an extent with first home owner grants and bonus’s, but that makes up a small part of the overall market. Why does our bubble continue to inflate, when will it burst and what will be the fallout for Australian residents and home owners? What will it mean for our major lenders and superannuation funds?

Consolidate your debts as soon as possible, get ready for a some rough property investment weather, but be ready to take advantage of the recovery if you can.

Is this the start of a trend?

Maybe Australia is not as insulated from the world wide property bubble as we would like to think?

A Second consecutive quarterly fall in the Established House Price index may well be the precursor for more dramatic falls in 2009, despite the Federal Governments interest rate cuts and First Home Owner Boosts.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides quarterly estimates of changes in housing prices in each of the eight capital cities of Australia.

The information is presented in the form of price indexes and is published quarterly.

The following is an exert from the ABS July to September 2008 quarter paper released 3rd November 2008.

“SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS

ESTABLISHED HOUSE PRICES

Quarterly Changes
Preliminary estimates show the price index for established houses for the weighted average of the eight capital cities decreased 1.8% in the September quarter 2008.

The capital city indexes fell this quarter in Brisbane (-3.3%), Canberra (-2.5%), Melbourne (-1.9%), Sydney (-1.8%), Perth (-1.1%), and Adelaide (-0.1%), and rose in Hobart (+0.7%), and Darwin (+0.1%).

The movement in the preliminary established house price index between March and June quarters 2008 has been revised from an estimated decrease of 0.3% to a decrease of 0.2%.

ANNUAL CHANGES (SEPTEMBER QUARTER 2007 TO SEPTEMBER QUARTER 2008)

Over the year to September quarter 2008, preliminary estimates show that the price index for established houses for the weighted average of the eight capital cities rose 2.8%.

Annually, house prices rose in Adelaide (+9.7%), Melbourne (+8.1%), Darwin (+6.4%), Brisbane (+5.6%), and Hobart (+2.4%), showed no change in Canberra (0.0%), and fell in Perth (-4.1%), and Sydney (-0.4%).

The movement in the preliminary established house price index between June quarters 2007 and 2008 has been revised from an estimated increase of 8.2% to an increase of 8.6%.”

This information is generally hidden away and scantly reported by the popular media. I find it interesting as it contradicts the reports by most media outlets. The information is useful If you are buying an established house.



Has your bank overcharged you? – Download this mortgage software to check your interest charges and claim your refund today!